The true test of good barbecue should come well after the meal, when you get home and your hair and coat smell like you just came from sitting around a campfire.

On that count, Fired Up BBQ delivered, leaving a subtle char upon us for some time after we left the snowy, light-industrial strip mall where the city’s newest barbecue joint set up shop about six months ago.

Lucky for our sated little group of four, the other mammals in the place that night soaked up the delectable, smoky scent and flavour even better than we did.

Chicken, cow and pig — in the form of brisket, ribs and pulled pork — were all slow-cooked till tender, basted in tangy-sweet sauce, with that unmistakable undertone of smoky-good barbecue.

The place is unassuming, pleasant enough if a tad unadorned, with a loud-ish and eclectic mix of southern/Cajun/jazzy music along with cafeteria-style service that suits the uncomplicated food.

The location, at the corner of 99th Street and Argyll Road in a small building shared with a McDonald’s, lends itself to quick service, simple presentation and good, hearty meals.

It also likely accounts for the limited hours — lunches Monday to Saturday and early dinners from Tuesday to Friday only, with the place closing down at 7 p.m. At lunchtime, Fired Up BBQ is reportedly hopping, but when we went for dinner on a Thursday evening, there were only a couple of other tables in the small eatery, and only one gal serving food that had been prepared and set aside in a warmer earlier that day.

Happily, barbecue is used to taking its time, so it doesn’t seem to mind sitting around for a spell. All the meat we sampled — brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork, chicken and a big beef rib, thrown in for good measure by the friendly server just so we could try it — was tender and flavourful. The beef rib, being less fatty, was a little chewier than the rest.

The meat came on platters in various combinations with a choice of three side dishes, or in sandwiches, without sides. Prices were reasonable, with platters in the $12 to $20 range and sandwiches running between $7 and $9.

Sides included a pretty wide selection of options: baked beans, Spanish rice, corn bread, coleslaw, potato salad, pickles, southwestern corn, green salad, fruit, veggies with dip or potato chips. The beans were a standout; the rest we tried were in the pretty-good to just-fine range, except for the coleslaw, which was strangely unmarinated and barely dressed — really little more than shredded raw cabbage.

In a considerate nod to vegetarians, kids and the health-conscious, Fired Up BBQ offers a few non-meat, salad-based and smaller plates. You can make a meal of four sides for $8 or risk ridicule from your carnivorous friends by ordering mac ’n’ cheese, which is also on the menu.

While the server was helpful and friendly, you’re pretty much left on your own once you’ve ordered and paid. This is a strictly bare-bones operation, with the bones, and anything that remains on your plate, staying at the table until you leave.

The place has only a half-dozen or so tables, leaving little room to linger. So Fired Up wisely offers “family-style” takeout, an exercise sure to embed that alluring, campfire smell in both your car and your kitchen — which is not, in any way, a bad thing.

Takeout packages, like the eat-in platters, include meat plus three sides, but for four people, with the option of adding extra folk for an additional charge. They range in price from $44 to $92 for four people, depending on which meat you choose.

With a solid plate of delicious barbecue under our collective belts, it was hard to think much about dessert, though Fired Up does have several, including cookies, squares and gingerbread cake with toffee sauce.

They also have home-brewed sweet tea plus a good variety of beer, from Alley Kat to Mill St. Organic — the perfect accompaniment to barbecued anything.

While Fired Up isn’t the first to bring barbecue to our city — witness Smokehouse BBQ, Sloppy Hoggs and a veritable slaughterhouse worth of pulled pork on the menus of many local eateries — it’s a solid addition to the scene, finding a good niche with the lunch and takeout crowd.

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